The invention relates to an electric iron comprising a housing, a sole plate, heating means for heating said sole plate, an exchangeable reservoir for containing a liquid, nozzle means, and a pump for delivering said liquid to said nozzle means.
Such an electric iron is known from WO 99/27176. With this iron it is possible to spray an additive liquid on the fabric before it is ironed. Additive liquids can be used e.g. for achieving a starching effect or wrinkling resistance, or for making cloth hydrophilic or hydrophobic. The additive liquid is contained in the exchangeable reservoir. When the pump is started, additive liquid is sucked from the exchangeable reservoir via a supply tube and pumped to a spraying nozzle means. The nozzle means is constructed as a fixed part of the housing. The use of another exchangeable reservoir containing a different kind of additive liquid means that the same nozzle is used for spraying different kinds of liquids having different properties, such as particle size and viscosity. Different particle sizes and viscosities may cause problems in spraying, at least the spraying effect will not be optimal. Moreover, the nozzle means and in particular the aperture(s) thereof are subject to clogging and contamination owing to the use of additive liquids. The extent of clogging and contamination depends inter alia on the affinity of the active ingredients of the additive liquid to the surfaces forming the liquid path and aperture, as well as the solubility of the active ingredients. It is in particular additive liquids containing polymers of high affinity to surfaces forming the aperture and polymers of low solubility or non-water-soluble polymers which tend to cause problems. Cleaning the aperture(s) to get rid of contamination is very difficult, especially after intensive usage in which the exchangeable reservoir was replaced several times.
The object of the invention is to provide an electric iron in which exchangeable reservoirs containing additive liquids can be used without the risk of the above problems arising.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the exchangeable reservoir is provided with the nozzle means.
Each exchangeable reservoir thus has its own nozzle means. The nozzle means can be designed such that it is adapted to the kind of liquid of the exchangeable reservoir. For example, the size of the aperture of the nozzle can be adapted to suit the additive liquid viscosity, so that a fine spray of mist is obtained from each liquid. The design or material choice of the nozzle can be optimized to suit the additive liquid so as to reduce or eliminate the build-up of active ingredients. The risk that the nozzle will become clogged or contaminated is substantially reduced.
It is to be noted that U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,884 discloses an electric iron which has a construction for spraying liquid starch. To that end, the iron is provided with a cavity into which a container of pressurized liquid starch can be inserted. The container itself is provided with nozzle means. However, this known iron does not have a pump for delivering the liquid to the nozzle means. Instead, the internal pressure of the liquid is used for delivering the liquid starch to the nozzle means resulting in spraying of the liquid. The disadvantage of this is that the internal pressure will drop as the contents of the container are being emptied, which causes a deteriorating spraying effect.
Preferably, the exchangeable reservoir is a disposable cartridge. The pressure of the nozzle means on the disposable cartridge has the advantage that each time the disposable cartridge is empty and should be replaced by a new, full cartridge the nozzle means will be new too and thus clean. The risk of clogging or contamination is substantially reduced.
A further preferred embodiment is characterized in that the iron comprises a further reservoir, fixedly arranged inside the housing, for containing a second liquid, said pump delivering a mixture of the two liquids to the nozzle means. Generally the second liquid is water, which is used to dilute the additive liquid before it is delivered to the nozzle means, so that the exchangeable reservoir or cartridge can contain an additive liquid in concentrated form.
The invention also relates to an exchangeable reservoir intended for use in the iron and having characteristics as described in the claims.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.